COLDWATER — Joe Fisher — a man of both sport and history — can attach his name to one of the most famous athletes in the history of sport.

Jim Thorpe.

Fisher, at the ripe age of 86, recalled the meetings between the two men in the late 1940s and early '50s. Fisher was enthralled by Thorpe's athletic ability as a youngster living in the Detroit area. This year marks the 100-year anniversary of the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden where Thorpe won gold in both the decathlon and pentathlon.

Thorpe was stripped of his medals in 1913 by the International Olympic Commission (IOC), as Thorpe's amateur status was questioned. He had played professional baseball in the Eastern Carolina League Rocky Mount, N.C. In 1909 and 1910. Thorpe had received as little as $2 per day and $35 per week. The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) took Thorpe's case seriously, and his medals were taken away.

During those Olympic games, Thorpe was treated like royalty by Swedish King Gustav, who told Thorpe, “Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world.”